Thermou, Maria

3 articles of this author have been cited in the European Press Review so far.

To Vima Online - Greece | 12/12/2006

Treasures of antiquity returned to Greece

The Los Angeles Getty museum announced on Monday, December 11th, that it is going to give back to Greece the two works of art (a Hellenistic funeral wreath in gold and an archaic marble torso) that it has been claiming since 1995. "This is a real victory", notes Maria Thermou. "Despite numerous obstacles in negotiations, Getty, the museum that has known so many scandals, is accepting to give us back antique works. ... Who is going to stop there? Not the Greeks and certainly not the government one year before the elections. This restitution is a 'good example', for the other museums, according to the Greek Minister of Culture [Georges Voulgarakis]. This is why we must launch a large restitution campaign, which will end up, as we can expect, with the return of the eternal marbles [friezes from the Parthenon] stolen by Lord Elgin during the Ottoman occupation, that are still in the British Museum."

The Da Vinci Code offends the Orthodox Church

Mgr Christodoulos, the archbishop of Athens and primate of Greece, has denounced the 'Da Vinci Code' on the eve of the world premiere of the film directed by Ron Howard, who plans to attend the Cannes Film Festival next week. "He has appealed to the Holy Synod, the supreme body of the Orthodox Church over which he presides, to have it distribute after Sunday's mass an explanatory brochure giving the Church's viewpoint, according to which the book [by Dan Brown] is totally false," the daily writes. "For the archbishop of Athens, this work 'offends and undermines religious consciousness in a perfidious manner ... It is an attack against Christ, but also against the Church, which it accuses of leading its followers astray'." However, as the newspaper stresses, "this has failed to deter the Greeks. Though 97% of them are Orthodox, they have already been rushing to snap up seats for the film."

"The isle of Delos must be saved"

"The ancient treasures of the isle of Delos are in danger," warns the daily. "Classified among the relics listed by UNESCO in 1990, the monuments are falling into disrepair due to very inclement weather, high winds and heat waves that sweep the isle. As a result, after many years the temples and monuments are in a state of near-collapse. The most egregious example is the gallery that King Philip V of Macedonia built in honour of the god of light, Apollo, and which these days is on the verge of crumbling. The Society of Greek Archaeologists tried to explain the urgency of the situation to the government, pointing out that the monuments were built in ancient times by simply piling stones on top of one another."